American Kashmiris pin hope on Trump for Kashmir resolution

The US-based World Kashmir Awareness organisation expressed the hope that the upcoming United States President Donald Trump would help resolve long-standing Kashmir dispute to establish durable peace in the region.

As Trump prepares to assume the presidency on Jan 20, the organisation's Secretary General Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, in a statement addressing the president-elect, said he hoped that he would help mediate on the issue to get the Kashmiris their right to self-determination.

Referring to Trump's promise during his election campaign to help resolve the Kashmir issue, Fai said the sentiments expressed by him was both humane and pragmatic, and should get bipartisan support.

“We believe that your desire to mediate and bring the parties together is extremely valuable right now,” he said and added that the Kashmiris do not visualise a settlement that would be unrealistic.

“But we do ask for a settlement that would be in accordance with the wishes of 20 million people of the state, impartially ascertained.

“The modalities for putting such a settlement in place can be worked out through negotiations between the parties concerned, governments of India and Pakistan and the legitimate leadership of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Dr. Fai said.

Dr Fai said that the outgoing President Barack Obama had also promised to help resolve this issue when he took over the presidency in 2008, but did nothing substantial or noteworthy to follow through after he assumed his role. He went for the “deal “─ the trade opportunities ─ but did not leverage it.

“Rather than setting aside your commitments in favour of making important trade deals, it is clear that “linkage” in helping resolve conflicts is something you are quite familiar with which can be established and used to your advantage,” Dr Fai said.

He reminded the president-elect that resolution of the Kashmir dispute was important for not just the peace and security of South Asia that but also the peace, security and stability of the entire region, including Afghanistan.

“Denying Kashmiris their right is a very dangerous game, particularly when the will for self-determination has only grown stronger with the passage of time,” he added.

He said that the current US policy has led the Indian government to believe that all it needs is some political manoeuvring to dissipate foreign concern over the appalling situation in Occupied Kashmir.

Dr Fai said that as Americans, Kashmiris appreciate the importance of expanding economic relations between the US and India, but said that American investments in India will remain exposed to grave danger as long as the subcontinent remains a scene of continuing strife, with the spectre of war always on the horizon.

“Even from a purely economic perspective, if not from concern over peace, genuine democracy and observance of human rights, the restoration of normalcy in South Asia deserves to be a policy goal for the world' s only superpower.”